A MILLION-POUND donation from a Jersey couple will help develop innovative treatments for cancer, dementia and other illnesses at the research hospital where many Islanders are treated.
Jersey resident James Vernon, who made his millions in the hedge fund industry, is behind the donation along with his wife Mindy.
The couple put £1 million into the University of Southampton’s £100 million Institute for Medical Innovation. The university has promised to put £50 million into the project, leaving £50 million to be raised in its largest-ever fundraising campaign.
The campaign has also benefited from a recent event at La Mare Wine Estate in Jersey.
The contribution from the Vernons is due to fund the institute’s Digital Collaboration Hub, with high-performance computers and bioinformatics software to be used by researchers.
Mr Vernon said: “The University of Southampton is at the heart of research that touches the lives of so many people.
“It also holds a special place for Jersey too, as countless Islanders depend on Southampton’s specialist medical services.
“This new centre represents a remarkable chance to go further than ever before, deepen these vital connections and create better outcomes for patients.”
The IMI is due to focus on five areas, all of which involve misfiring immune systems: cancer, dementia, sight loss, infection, and respiratory and allergic conditions.
The institute’s director, Professor Paul Elkington, said the donation was “incredibly generous” and “a clear vote of confidence in our vision for the IMI”.
The centre, he said, would “get life-changing treatments to patients faster” – with results reaching them in “years, not decades”.
“We know families are waiting and, while technology is advancing at pace, medical science must keep up.” he said.
One Islander who has already benefited from research done in Southampton, Carly Silvester, has praised the team there as “exceptional”.
The St Lawrence resident has suffered with severe asthma since she was seven, and she said the treatment she received in Southampton had changed her life.
She was given Mepolizumab, which was developed in part in Southampton.
“I stopped waking in the night, gasping for air. I stopped reaching for my inhaler at 1am. For the first time in my life, things felt possible,” she said.
